CiSRA Puzzle Competition 2009 - Solutions

This is the archive of the 2009 Puzzle Competition. Please visit the current competition site for information about the latest Puzzle Competition.

C.2 Coherency

First, assemble the pieces. None of the pieces overlap any other, and all of the oddly shaped notches are filled by other pieces. The result looks like this:

The information we haven't used yet is the triangle shape, the short solid and dashed lines, and the black dots.

The triangle is a laser beam emitter, the short black lines on each piece are mirrors, the dashed lines are half-silvered mirrors (which light can reflect off and also pass through), and the black dots absorb the laser. Drawing on the laser light in red gives:

The laser traces the distinctive shape of a SWAN.